Julia is a TEDx speaker, podcaster, and campaigner with a passion for the rights of all independent workers. Like many people, the pandemic made Julia re-evaluate her purpose, and she founded IWORK to support and champion the UK’s army of temps, agency workers, gig economy workers, contractors and the self-employed.
Before setting up IWORK Julia single-handedly grew FCSA, a compliance standard for accountants and umbrellas, from an unheard-of niche organisation to becoming ubiquitous within the recruitment supply chain. Here she led unprecedented growth, successfully raising the profile of FCSA and it’s influence within the government, recruitment sector and amongst employers.
During covid it became apparent that many people were losing their jobs and needed to work differently, and were turning to self-employment, temping, side hustles or other forms of contingent work. This meant a new crop of people vulnerable to exploitation simply due to their lack of knowledge. Julia couldn’t simply stand by and watch this unfold, so in July 2020 she launched IWORK and her mission to empower all independent workers so they get the fair deal they deserve.
Julia is a well known authority in the contracting sector, having been an expert panellist on TV and radio programmes, commentator on relevant news stories, and has many articles published in national and trade press. She has an in-depth understanding of the many complex issues affecting independent workers, which coupled with her belief in justice and equality make her a force to be reckoned with! Julia’s common sense approach, balance and fairness mean that she is often called on to contribute to government policy development, including as an expert witness at various House of Lords inquiries over the years.
More recently, Julia has become increasingly frustrated with the continued scourge of dubious practices within the umbrella sector, exploiting workers yet no-one is doing anything about it! Wrongdoings have been exposed at seeming ‘compliant’ umbrellas which hold external accreditations, yet disappointingly these umbrellas are not being properly challenged. Clearly action is needed to ensure workers are protected.
This led to Julia taking on the role of CEO at PayePass in May 2023. By forensically scrutinising everything relating to worker payments PayePass protects the supply chain from the financial risks of tax avoidance, tax evasion, mini-umbrella company fraud, payroll skimming, and holiday pay misconduct.
Julia says “it seems that misconduct is on the increase and that it’s going unchallenged. I have been waiting for others to flex their muscles and take action, but nothing seems to be happening. I can’t continue to sit back and watch an industry I love being increasingly vilified and untrusted. That’s why I am taking matters into my own hands to raise standards and clean up the sector once and for all!”
Julia is an accomplished business leader having landed her first CEO role aged just 31. She has experienced many ups and downs in her career including: the shock of starting a CEO role at an organisation with no financial viability; a dream job that was actually anything but; and transforming a business from obscurity to ubiquity. Advocacy and fighting for the underdog have been common themes throughout Julia’s career as she cares about ensuring fairness for everyone.
The electioneering has begun with the Labour Party publishing their New Deal for Working People green paper which outlines their plans for employment rights if they win the next election. Interestingly, they plan to clamp down on false self-employment by
Cleaners, couriers and cabbies from around the world are taking control of their work by creating new apps without the bias they face from some traditional gig platforms. In South Africa a group of female domestic workers have helped develop
Up to 12,500 taxi drivers working for the taxi operator Veezu could be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation after being denied holiday pay and the National Minimum Wage.  Veezu currently treats its drivers as self-employed contractors, but drivers claim
A new law will entitle all workers in the UK, including temporary agency workers, the right to request a more predictable working pattern. This has been under discussion for some time, and the draft legislation has received Royal Assent, meaning
Some of the biggest names in the gig economy have signed a charter with Transport for London to keep their couriers safer whilst working in London. Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, Getir and Stuart are among those committing to improvements
On World Afro Day, a study reveals that business decision-makers think several Afrocentric hairstyles are completely inappropriate for the workplace. This shocking fact comes from a survey of 1000 HR decision-makers and other key decision-makers in the workplace, including those
New research finds 48% of UK companies outsource work in 2023, with an increase of 41% since the pandemic. By comparison, in 2020 only a third of UK businesses expected to outsource more, then and in the future. Other findings
The number of temporary workers in the UK has fallen to 1.6m according to latest data from the Office of National Statistics. By comparison, temporary workers peaked at 1.7m in 2021, as businesses navigated the pandemic.  Today’s figures are a fall
The Chancellor recently announced that this year’s Autumn Budget will take place on 22 November 2023, essential viewing for the political geeks among us, and our first indication of tax changes which might affect you. In recent years we’ve had